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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930475">Overlord</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakneckbetty/pseuds/breakneckbetty'>breakneckbetty</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, F/M, Post-Apocalypse, Superpowers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:21:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930475</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakneckbetty/pseuds/breakneckbetty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The land is ravaged from the clash of the Overlords- power hungry tyrants who seek to possess "the source" and all who show signs of its power. A small group of vigilantes with mystical powers seek to protect those who possess the source and work to fight against the evil intentions of the Overlords.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All main characters are the intellectual property of Lilydusk.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night was long, the moon new, and the brush next to the wall of the Overlord's compound was just thick enough to hide two young women. Jasmine ran her hand a scant inch away from the stone, brow furrowed in deep concentration as she searched for energy along the mortared seams. She held her breath and waited for the pulse, the small tingle which indicated a source. Frustrated, she shook her head and glanced at Poppy who nodded in encouragement and silently mouthed "Try again".</p><p>Jasmine steadied herself and pushed her senses forward once more, working to scan just past the stones and into the open space beyond. She began to shake with the effort, trying to find the boundary right before she risked detection. </p><p>Poppy felt her nerves begin to rise. Jasmine never took this long to identify the accuracy of a tip. Once a suspected source was reported, the tribe would scout out the hiding place. Time was always of the essence- a life could be at stake. The tip for tonight's mission had come from one of the townies on the westside of the encampment. They witnessed the Overlord's troops brining in several trucks loaded with what appeared to be spoils of a raid. The informant had also seen a truck that held a few bedraggled captives. This always meant a source.</p><p>Jasmine pushed a little more, her body practically quaking with exertion causing the bushes around them to rustle softly. Poppy put out a steadying hand but it was too late, Jasmine's trembling fingers moved forward the bare inch and ever so gently she touched the wall. Poppy gasped as the surface of the stone rippled as if a pebble were tossed into a pond. Almost immediately a claxon blared. </p><p>"Go!" Poppy rasped as she pushed Jasmine onto shaky legs. Stumbling, the girl moved away from the wall, casting a desperate glance at her friend. "Go, find Violet! I'll lead them away!"</p><p>"Be safe," Jasmine whispered and was gone.</p><p>This wasn't the first time the team had been in a dangerous position of discovery, not even the tenth. They planned and trained for this eventuality before any mission, running through every conceivable possibility. Generally, all scenarios ended up like this- the seeker runs and the decoy pulls the attention away from the escape. And Poppy was always the decoy.</p><p>Poppy knew that the most accurate course away from the Overlord's compound was straight ahead of her current location, then right of the gate so she could just barely be seen by the guards. She would run past the burned-out cars that lined the blasted roadway and through the bombed-out structures that lined the once thriving streets of Narin City. She would then duck through the old temple and scrabble up to the roof.</p><p>This was the plan that Poppy put into action and was halfway up the temple steps when she realized the claxon had stopped and no sound of pounding, chasing footsteps could be heard below. She jerked to a stop, her heart beating wildly in her chest. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, there was no way the guards would have given up so quickly. She panicked and, worried that Jasmine had been caught, she risked a quick look out of a small window in the stairwell leading to the roof of the temple. That is when she saw him.</p><p>One dark figure stood in the road before the temple, a dark mist swirling around it like a cloak. Even in the darkness, Poppy could make out the inky blackness of the form. Shadow guard.</p><p>Like a flash, Poppy sprinted the final steps to the roof of the temple and flew, her small feet silently skipping across the shingles until she reached the end. It was a route she knew in her sleep, a series of jumps and sprints that would take her across the city from one roof to another. She would then reach the end of the block where she would slide down a drainpipe to a second-floor window, then through the building to a secret panel in the basement. This would lead to a tunnel system that would take her out of the city and into the deeper woods. She only needed to stay far enough ahead.</p><p>Poppy risked a glance behind her as she reached the edge and nearly stumbled before her jump. Already the guard was on the roof, as silent in his movements as she. Pumping her legs faster, she took flight across the small gap to the adjoining building. On she ran, not taking another look behind until she reached the final building. If he was still close she was going to have to try another route instead of leading him right to the tunnels. It would jeopardize them all. </p><p>It was before the last jump that she turned... and froze. He was there, right before her as if he had materialized from the very night air. He loomed above her small frame, the strange dark mist floating around him like a black aura. Slowly Poppy backed up, feeling for the edge and the drainpipe behind her with her foot. It was at the moment she felt the solid tap against the pipe that a hand reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her away from edge. Poppy gasped as the mist thinned around him and deep amber eyes glowed from the darkness, boring into her. He twisted his grip and slid down her arm to grasp her wrist, pulling her arm away from her body and the pocket she had tried to quickly dip her hand into. It was then that rough grip of his fingers touched the soft inner flesh of her wrist and Poppy felt a jolt of electricity shock through her entire nervous system. The sting was so great it also rocked the large man back on his feet, causing him to loosen his grip. Just as his fingers slipped from her wrist, they locked eyes- his shocked and golden, hers brown and confused- and Poppy felt it. The tingle.</p><p>Taking advantage of the moment of surprise, Poppy dipped her fingers into her pocket and brought them up to her mouth. Smiling, she blew the man a kiss of dust that hit him right in the face- and softly he slumped to the ground and off to sleep. </p><p>With a delighted giggle, Poppy stepped off the roof and slid down to the tunnels toward home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you see anything yet?”<br/>Violet shook her head at Jasmine, brows furrowed over a battered set of night-vision goggles.<br/>“I’m so scared, Vi.  What if she got caught? She’s never taken this long to get back to us.”<br/>“Be still and let me focus,” Violet whispered, pushing the waves of anxiety radiating from her companion away from her center of concentration. She breathed in deeply from the night air, the scent of the tree they were perched in bringing more of the calm she needed to focus her source. <br/>“Something happened but Poppy is with us, she’s coming- just delayed. I’m watching the tunnel, I’ll tell you when I see any movement. You just need to let me concentrate. Please!”<br/>Jasmine bit down on her words and the nail of her forefinger. She was becoming fed up with this strange night and stranger place.  She hoped that they would locate the source and get on the road before anything bad happened. They had been here too long already.<br/>“There!  I see something,” Violet whispered.  “Its… its her! She’s alone.” <br/>Their tense shoulders collectively dropped in relief and they swung down softly from the branches to the forest floor below.  Violet let out a small trill to let Poppy know she was not alone. In moments she was upon them with warm, relieved hugs.  <br/>“Safe?” Jasmine signed.<br/>Poppy nodded, giving them the signal that they could move on without worry. They would speak once safely back to the camp.<br/>Warmth and fragrant stew met the girls as they stepped from the dark into the meeting tent. Several of the tribe were still awake and helped them shed their dark cloaks and head wraps. Once free, Poppy bounced on her toes and shook the adrenaline from herself like a freshly washed pup. “Where is Erdene? I need to tell you all what happened.”<br/>“I’m here,” the Lotus answered as she stepped into the tent, arms laden with books, bags and bottles of healing. “Let me see you all. Any wounds?”<br/>Violet and Jasmine shook their heads as Poppy stood, absently rubbing her wrist. <br/>“Poppy, you ok?” Erdene put a soothing hand on her friend. <br/>“Yes,  I think so. Its just this.”<br/>Erdene took the proffered wrist and turned it, inspecting all the way around. A red starburst streaked out from the pale skin of Poppy’s inner wrist. <br/>“What is that?” Jasmine peered over Erdene’s shoulder.<br/>“Well, I’m not sure really. Let me start at the beginning.” Poppy nodded her thanks as stew and bread were handed all around and the girls settled into a semi-circle of pillows near the fire. <br/>“Jasmine and I made it to the Overlord’s fortress wall pretty easily and Violet stayed back as watch like normal,” Poppy started around mouthfuls of savory, roasted vegetables. “It was quiet considering the word we had about the amount of captives brought in this week.”<br/>“There should have been more activity, especially since the Overlord is in residence,” Jasmine chimed in.<br/>“Yeah, so it was strange all the way around. Jaz had to work hard to reach out past the wall. That’s not normal, Dene. I was about to call it off, but Jaz accidentally touched it.”<br/>“What?” Erdene gasped.<br/>“I couldn’t help it, I was shaking like crazy.”<br/>Erdene nodded pensively, chewing on the details with her crust of bread.<br/>“Once that happened, we took off like we train- and I ran toward the roof tops as fast as I could. But, Dene, the troops didn’t come out. It was Shadow Guard.”<br/>“How many,” Erdene gasped.<br/>“Just one that I could see and he chased me. He was so incredibly fast I couldn’t outrun him and he had a mist that flowed around him and he caught me and then,” Poppy stopped the torrent of memories spilling from her and touched her wrist. “and then he grabbed my wrist and he shocked me. But it was crazy, because it seemed to shock him, too.”<br/>“That’s interesting,” Erdene leaned in to inspect Poppy’s wrist again, tracing the streaking redness softly toward the bend of her elbow- like a lightening strike. “Does it hurt?”<br/>“A little, very much so when it happened. But here’s the craziest part. It was like a wall came down and I felt the tingle.”<br/>A dumbstruck silence followed.<br/>“I don’t understand,” Jasmine squinted in suspicion.<br/>“The tingle, Jaz. I actually felt it from him. Like he was a source,” Poppy’s wide-eyed proclamation was met with blank stares.<br/>“That’s not possible,” Erdene breathed out before reaching for a book. “First, it would have had to be incredibly strong for you to feel since you are not a seeker…” she trailed off as she rapidly flipped from page to page, book to book. “Jasmine, you felt nothing at the wall?”<br/>“Nothing,” Jasmine shook her head, confusion growing.<br/>“How did you get away, Poppy,” Violet looked hard into Poppy’s eyes. “I’ve never heard of a Shadow Guard encounter that ended without blood or kidnapping.”<br/>Poppy smiled brightly at her friends. “I put him to sleep.”<br/>“You are sure,” Dene pushed gently.<br/>“Of course! I put him out and waited in the cellar for quite awhile, ready to weave a dream if he came down. But there was no movement so I felt it was safe to come back.”<br/>The group sat in a long, contemplative silence as these most unusual details were parsed for meaning. <br/>“I’ve got nothing,” Erdene scratched her head, rumpling her lavender locks.  “We will need to research this. If this Shadow Guard is the source, I don’t know that we can stay here. We may need to pack up and go.”<br/>“What if we can get him out?” Poppy stared thoughtfully into the middle space.<br/>“I think you’ve given yourself a dream,” Jasmine scoffed as she rose and stretched. “I’m off to my own dreamland. I’ve had enough for one night.”<br/>Erdene also stretched her long legs before reaching over to squeeze Poppy’s hand. “Its been a chaotic night, love.  Get some rest. I’ll check on that wrist tomorrow.”<br/>Poppy smiled at her friends as they filtered out to their tents.<br/>“You may be right.”<br/>Poppy turned toward Violet’s voice. The shadows across her face moved with the flickering of the firelight, but Poppy could just make out the far-sight glaze over Violet’s eyes. She was attuning to the future, reading the sporadic images brought on by her source.  <br/>“You may be right but it is all in the choice.”</p><p>That night, Poppy snuggled deep into her cot, thankful to be in it and not dead on a rooftop or worse- and for a brief moment before she was taken by sleep- she thought of amber colored eyes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter Three</p><p>It was cold in the bunker. Despite the opulence of the big house and its surrounding gardens, the bunkers were sterile and devoid of signs of life. No personal effects, no untidy bunks, no lost sock in a corner- complete, unwavering order. Soldiers were allowed four activities in these spaces, sleep, shit, shower and shave. Every other moment of time was spent training or patrolling with the occasional choked down meal.</p><p>Tora strode through the empty, sterile space toward the last bunk on the left and opened the locker to its right. He stared into this new, nearly empty space and sank into a storm of thoughts and memories twisting around his mind’s eye. He felt disturbed, unsettled.</p><p> Without thinking he reached into the shadows of the locker shelf and pulled out a thin, worn loop of leather- a small, translucent blue stone dangling from its folded length. This one scrap of his past, his original self as much a mystery to him as it would be to anyone else who would see it. He had carried this small token with him his whole life, precious and hidden, hoping someday to make sense of it.  He rolled the stone between his fingers as if it might bring some order to his thoughts. </p><p>“Boss?” </p><p>“What,” he snapped, yanked from his reverie and slamming the door on both locker and thought.</p><p>“Overlord is asking for you.”</p><p>‘Fuck’ he muttered, shoving the strap of leather deep into the cargo pocket of his utility pants.</p><p>The distance from the barracks to the big house was a good stretch of the legs, and Tora took the length at slow lope. Burning some edge off his demeanor was probably smart.</p><p>“You know, Tora, I wouldn’t have to wait so long for you to show up if you actually inhabited the luxury I provide for you.” </p><p>Tora glanced up the expanse of steps funneling him toward the monstrous teak double doors of the mansion, his eyes meeting the icy blue disapproval of the Overlord. He sucked in one deep breath and let it out slowly, steadying the exercise induced elevation of his heart rate before moving up the stairs. </p><p>“I’m not looking to get soft.”</p><p>“Well, you are anything but that.” Tora climbed the last step and levelled his gaze directly into the eyes of the man before him.</p><p>“What do you need, Vincent.”</p><p>The man placed a strong, manicured hand on Tora’s shoulder and squeezed- just past friendly and into the territory of pain, rolling the muscle beneath his fingers slightly then removed his hand, disappointed to receive not even a twitch in response.</p><p>“I need you to tell me what really happened last night.”</p><p>“Looked like a pack of scavengers were trying to test the perimeter.” </p><p>“Martin says there was definitely source activity,” Vincent eyes fell hard on Tora’s. He pulled a cigar and silver cutter from the inner pocket of his blazer- cutting the cap end with emphasis.<br/>
“Its possible.” Tora crossed his arms over his chest in irritation at being questioned.</p><p>Vincent held his cigar near his full lips and arched an eyebrow in cold expectation.  Tora dropped his arms and pulled a box of matches from his cargo pocket, sighing heavily as he struck a match and held it out. </p><p>“I’m going to need you to be sure,” Vincent exhaled in a cloud of expensive smoke.</p><p>Tora’s answered with petulant silence.  Scrub work was for the rank and file.</p><p>“Don’t give me that face. You are looking for a source, not rounding up the riff raff. I want you to take Martin’s team with yours and sniff out if we have a problem. That’s why I brought you here, after all.”</p><p>Tora caught a movement behind Vincent as the great teak doors opened and the Inquisitor General stepped out into the sunlight as if he was waiting for this exact moment.</p><p>“Tora,” the skeletal man smiled tightly.</p><p>“Martin.”</p><p>“My troops are ready for you to take out and put through their paces. I’m excited to see what you think of them.”  Martin’s eyes were a million miles away from excited. Nothing about having a shadow guard on site set well with him, as if the Overlord didn’t think his services were enough. Bringing in this haughty freak was an insult to the work he had been doing here.</p><p> “Fine,” Tora turned away, “I’ll take a whole troop out and announce to the entire area that we are on the hunt. March right through the woods and send all the little rabbits scattering. What the hell did you bring me here for if this is how you want things done?”</p><p>“Humor me,” Vincent called out to his retreating back. </p><p>“He’s insolent,” Martin hissed “I don’t understand why you allow him such freedom.”</p><p>“He’s lethal and accurate,” Vincent smiled slowly. “He’s a one-of-a-kind asset and more than anything, he fully understands whose hand controls the choke chain around his neck.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thank you to all who are following along. I truly appreciate your comments and likes. It keeps my little writer's heart beating creative thoughts.  I hope you enjoy this next little romp through the forest.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Crashing through a forest is never a successful way to capture prey. No species known to man achieves its quarry by announcing its intentions plena voce.<br/>
Tora chewed on this as twenty heavily armed bodies stood before him, alert, twitchy and ready to comb through the surrounding underbrush like a search and rescue squad. He chewed on it harder as the two commanders of the Inquisitor General came to stand before him, ready to present their troops for inspection as if he were some kind of officer.  He knew one to be Scharch and the other Claude and both to be desperate climbers.<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“Sir, our teams are ready to head out. What are your instructions?” This one was Claude.  He stood tall and sharp just as he should, but his words held a thick layer of arrogance. Tora would be sending him East, farthest away from anything that would look like action. The other waited silently for direction, calm in his stance but more than an edge of calculation in his eyes.  Tora would be sending him North through the harshest terrain.<br/>
“You take your teams out and scout North and East. Sweep those areas thoroughly and lets see if it pushes anything my way.”</p><p>Claude looked at the six men clad in black, chatting easily in a lazy circle behind Tora. </p><p>“This is all you have?” His face was irritating.</p><p>“Its more than I need, but I have a few I’m still breaking in.” Tora didn’t stand around for return replies. He’d given the expected directive.  A nod of the head and his team was at his side and on their way out the front gate. </p><p>“Freak,” Claude ground out lowly to Tora’s retreating back. </p><p>“Watch yourself,” Scharch warned. </p><p>“For what? He’s nothing but a spoiled, overpaid merc.  Why are we taking useless directions from him anyway?”</p><p>Scharch motioned with his chin toward the gate, just in time for he and Claude to see the hard, defined muscles of Tora’s large frame become shrouded in crackling black mist. Claude shivered. </p><p>“That’s creepy.”</p><p>“And deadly. I’m sending my team out but I’m following him. I want to see him in action.”</p><p>A slow, sadistic smile spread across Claude’s lips. “Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah”.</p><p> </p><p>“Poppy this is crazy!” Jasmine’s frazzled nerves were not as ready as she had thought they would be when she agreed to revisit the scene of the crime.</p><p>“Yeah, it probably is,” Poppy agreed, “but I can’t shake the feeling that we need to try at least once.”</p><p>“I’m still not thrilled that its broad daylight,” Erdene whispered as she peered over Poppy’s shoulder. The troops filtering from the gates of the Overlord’s compound were less concerning than the small band of black figures that had drifted out before. At least all those tromping feet were headed away from them.</p><p>“Shhh” Violet’s hiss carried softly on the breeze through the branches and needles of the tree they were perched on some hundred feet from the activity below.  Two figures in battle dress uniforms were the last to leave the compound, but they did not follow the similarly clad troops. These two snuck off in the direction of the source.  </p><p>“Lets go,” Poppy shimmied down the tree and waited for the rest. One by one, they dropped from the seclusion of the pine boughs onto the soft forest floor.  Each adjusted her own dark cloak and head wrap to leave only a small gap for sight. </p><p>Like a shot, the girls ran silently through the brush, a tactic they had spent many dangerous missions perfecting. Violet led the chase, her eyes seeking the middle distance as she felt forward in time toward the source. Jasmine and Erdene followed a few paces behind with Poppy at the rear. All four were tense with anticipation as they wound their way around brush, over fallen logs and stranded remnants of a not so distant time that had been ravaged by man and reclaimed by nature.<br/>
Ahead, the tree line broke into a clearing and Violet skirted around at the edges, keeping the team within the sheltering shadows of the now heavy forest line.  Without warning, she stopped, breath shallow and quick, eyes hazing like smoke on water.  Her girls came skittering to a halt behind her, gulping steadying lung fulls of air as quietly as possible. Poppy reached out to Violet, hand on shoulder, pushing her gift toward that of her friends to aid in the seeing. In a moment they were linked, and Poppy saw the flashes of camouflage making time in the steps they had just passed.  They were being followed.</p><p>Breaking the link, Poppy signaled for her friends to move away, deeper into the woods. Jasmine and Erdene nodded silently and fled. Violet was the last to go, taking a moment to shake from her trance.<br/>
“I can help,” she signed.<br/>
Poppy shook her head and pointed “Go”. Violet nodded, giving Poppy’s arm a reaffirming squeeze before setting off on silent feet toward the rest of the team.</p><p>Drawing back, deeper into the brush, Poppy waited for the two men to make a decision- enter the clearing or move around its perimeter.  They could choose to go forward, or around the opposite direction- that was fine by her. It would save her the effort of weaving a dream.  But if they came her way, she would be forced to take an action and go home empty handed. She held her breath.</p><p>A long moment passed, a snap, a step, a tan booted foot moved forward connected to a long, swift leg. Disappointed, Poppy closed her eyes, breathed in and…</p><p>The forest closed in front of her, sucking her back, back until she was deep into the shadows. The air, crackling and snapping, the soft skin near her eyes beginning to tingle with the electric mist that swirled around the hand that was firmly pressed against her mouth. She struggled, trapped in a vice like embrace on her face, on her stomach. </p><p>“Quiet, little one.” Baritone words spoken into her ear. “They will hear you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fear of frying her eyeballs had Poppy staying still as a mouse. There wasn’t much room for movement, anyway, in the vice grip she was locked into.  But though her outer body was motionless, her heart and mind were flying on wings of adrenaline.<br/>
They were stopped as suddenly as they had started, and Poppy ventured a tiny movement of her eyes to see they were in a small break in the trees.  It was now or never.<br/>
Poppy took a breath and counted… three… two… one…</p><p>“Where are we?”  he jerked.</p><p>His dream form was as  large and shadowy as he was in real life. Waves of black hair hung loose and long over his eyes, his strong, set jaw and unsmiling mouth the only thing she could make of his face. No, that wasn’t fully right, she could see a flash of gold between the strands of his hair- a memory of his real eyes that night on the rooftops.</p><p>“We are in my happy place.” Poppy smiled and waved a hand.</p><p>Around them was a deep field of red poppies, drinking happily from the warm rays of a mid-morning sun and dancing gently in a soft, sweet breeze that came down from the crisp and snowy peaks of a distant mountain range. Idylic, tranquil.</p><p>To ease the sudden scene change, Poppy showed herself as she usually did when weaving a dream- all unassuming innocence. She stood before him barefoot, in a simple dress, honeyed hair in loose waves and projecting as much peace and good will as possible. She could see his confusion and agitation in the lines of his image and the last thing she wanted was for her physical self to be electrocuted while she tried to reach his subconscious.</p><p>“You did this?”</p><p>“Yes, I thought it might be a safe way for us to talk.”</p><p>“Ok…” he hesitated. Poppy watched him as he brushed the hair from his eyes, trying to make sense of the situation. He took a step forward. “I’ll start. I’d like to know what you did to me on the roof.”</p><p>Poppy blinked. “What I did? You zapped the daylights out of me.”</p><p>She could see him turn that over in his mind and then, when he seemed to have made sense of his thoughts, he took another few steps forward. </p><p>“How did you bounce the charge back at me?”</p><p>“Oh, so it’s a charge?” She asked and moved closer to him, drawn in with curiosity.</p><p>“I’m not going to talk about that. I just need to know how you did it and what happened… after.”</p><p>“You mean the tingle?” and here she searched his face closely for signs of knowledge, recognition but he landed on confusion.</p><p>Poppy bobbed her head and blinked and a large blanket appeared beneath their feet. “Sit,” she smiled and watched him comply grudgingly.</p><p>“Is that how you do this? Some sort of magic trick?” He mimicked her head bob.</p><p>“That? Oh, no I just really liked ‘I Dream of Genie’ reruns when I was a kid. Well, when we could get a pirated copy. I do it for, I don’t know, flair I guess.” Her cheeks burned at the admission. This wasn’t going well and she needed to bring things back into alignment. She breathed a cleansing breath and leveled a calm gaze at the space behind the fringe of dark hair covering his face.  </p><p>“I’m going to tell you a little something that may resonate with you and I’d like you to think deeply on what I’m about to say. We haven’t much time so I want to be sure you understand my words.”</p><p>He leaned in and brushed his hair back, fixing her in the golden tractor beam of his stare. </p><p>“Sounds like you are winding up for sales pitch. I’m not buying, sweetheart. You got me in your little bubble here, and that’s also creepy, but I’m going to need some answers. Real ones.”</p><p>Poppy blew out a frustrated breath. So, he was going to play hardball. </p><p>“OK, listen. I don’t know how you do the dark and spooky thing you do, but you have a source and I just felt I owed it to you to let you know. I mean, in case you didn’t know. “</p><p>“A source, what the hell is that?”</p><p>“Well,” she paused and looked hard at his image, searching for some crack that would show her what form the source had taken with him. “I’m not sure what yours does but it’s a gift that you were born with. Can you think of a time when you may have had something strange happen around you and you couldn’t figure out why?”</p><p>She saw him get caught in a memory of sorts, but it didn’t seem pleasant. The space around him began to expand and contract with a dark energy and she feared for her physical self.  “Hey!” She shouted as a diversion. “Hey, I’m not looking to have a glass eye in this lifetime, sir. Let’s keep this friendly, shall we.”</p><p>Around them the poppies began to swirl in the force of a powerful gust, their red petals glowing a garish almost bloody red as the sunlight above shone down with painfully bright rays that moved through the air as if they had a mass and a density.</p><p>Poppy, unthinking, threw herself forward and grabbed his arms. “Stop,” she shook him. “Please, stop!”</p><p>“Its not me,” he cried out but his voice was uncertain and almost panicked.</p><p>“Okay, okay,” she said as softly as she could, pushing his hair from his eyes so she could grab his focus.  “Its okay.  Just look at me and breathe.  Breathe! That’s good. Just… yes, that’s good, see! Its stopping and we are safe. You are safe.”</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A large man and a small woman sat face to face in a field of poppies, her hands in his hair, his hands on her hips. In the crackly old movies that Poppy watched when she was a little girl, this was the pinnacle of romance and never failed to make her sappy heart skip a beat.   Her heart was skipping now, pounding erratically but this was nothing like a romance as he tossed her from him with startling speed, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.  This was her dream, though, and she was not going to let his dangerous aura get out of control.  </p><p>“Well, that’s that then.  It was nice talking to you and I wish you the best in life. I hope that some day you are able to tap into the good in there,” she leveled a finger at his chest and then she breathed in her dream, swimming them back to the surface. She heard a muffled shout as the last sunny rays faded behind her eyes but it was too late, their harsh reality came crashing down as loud as the footsteps rushing in their direction.</p><p>“Boss, we gotta get outta here!”</p><p>Poppy came to and sighed with a milli-second of relief that she could see the three black clad men running at them- eyes safely uncooked.  She could feel the man behind her come fully awake with a ragged, deep breath and she took the split second of distraction to tuck her chin and drop like a stone through his arms. It worked and she bounced away, both hands dipping toward her pockets, ready to dust the entire area.</p><p>“No, no sweetheart,” the man chuckled lowly as the crackle around him pushed forward like a cloud of snarling, snapping electricity. Poppy jumped back several feet in fear, out of range of getting burned but also unable to effectively reach him with the handful of sleep she had at the ready. This was a problem.</p><p>“Stop,” he commanded.  “You got me once, no- twice now. That’s all you get.”</p><p>The three men skidded to a stop at the standoff before them, but it was the three coming up behind them that made Poppy anxious. These three had her friends, scared and struggling, clamped in grips not unlike the one she just escaped from.  </p><p>“You are going to need to let them go,” she called out, flinching at how much her voice trembled. She sought out Violet’s eyes only to see her focus drifted into the middle space. Poppy needed to buy a little time.</p><p>“What we do will depend on what you do,” the black, crackling mist seemed to recede back into the man’s large form as he stepped closer to her. She could see his wary golden eyes coming more firmly into focus behind the swirling black that hid his features.</p><p>“Let them go and we will leave here and not bother you again,” she offered, her eyes slipping again to Violet for a cue. Still nothing.</p><p>“Now see, that’s not quite what I am looking for.  I need answers and I think you may be the only one I can get them from.”</p><p>“Doubtful, sir. I gave you as much as I can give you. Its up to you to seek the answers within yourself. We are just traveling on.” </p><p>“Look,” and here he paused and the swirling blackness fell away from him. He stepped before her and crouched down to sit on his heels.</p><p>“I don’t want to hurt you, I just want answers.”</p><p>Poppy sucked in a breath at the threat she read in his words, her hands beginning to become gritty with nervous sweat and the sleep powder she had loaded up on. It was going to be useless now and she was beginning to feel trapped, scared that her stupid stubborn need to help a shadow guard was about to get them all killed. </p><p>“Let me start again. I’m not here to hurt you. Consider this a truce. I want to know more about what you did to me… both times.”</p><p>“I really can’t…”</p><p>“You can. I know you can do more than give me a smarmy ad about some inner light bullshit.  I saw you do something crazy and drag me into it. And I saw you redirect my power back at me and I want to know how you did it.”</p><p>Poppy had no idea how that had come to be, but she saw an opportunity to use his assumptions to their benefit and pounced.</p><p>“Like I’m so stupid as to give you information that would hurt us.  No thank you.”</p><p>He rubbed a hand across his jawline and she noted that he did not embellished his dream self as most people did. She saw little difference between the man before her and the equally imposing image his subconscious had presented.  Unusual.</p><p>“Ok, then tell me more about this source you say I have.”</p><p>“Let us go and I’ll tell you more.”</p><p>A long hard silence was punctuated with a long hard stare between the two. There wasn’t an ounce of trust to be found anywhere between the two. Poppy focused her peripheral vision as hard as she could toward Violet and saw a slight movement.  Risking a quick look, she got a very focused nod from the seer. </p><p>“Ok, I’ll make you a deal,” he sighed. “I will meet you tomorrow and we will have a conversation. One conversation.”</p><p>Everything in her said to lie and agree then take off for the hills, but as her eyes slid once more to Violet, she felt a heavy importance to see this through. </p><p>“Fine. We will meet you here tomorrow at dawn.”</p><p>He smiled at her, a dimpled, almost kind smile that put her a little off balance.  He motioned to his group to let the prisoners go. </p><p>“I’m letting you go in good faith, little one and I’m not asking for any collateral. Remember that before you try to pack up and run tonight. One conversation.”</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the little break. The muse has left the building.  I just want to say thank you again to those who are up for this off the wall kind of fanfiction.  I appreciate your kind comments! I do hope that this continues to be an enjoyable ride for you.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Poppy had always loved camping in the high limbs of pine trees. She had perfected a system of rigging up a hammock that allowed her to be both comfortable and camouflaged.  As she snuggled into the warmth of her sleeping bag this night, cradled in the suspended netting she felt almost as if she was floating. She pulled the downy fabric over her head, lit her small flashlight and opened the tattered paperback romance novel she had been carting with her from decimated town to decimated town. It was the best comfort she had when she was feeling down. </p><p>It was nothing short of a miracle that she was back in this clearing. The entire camp had broken down in record time and the small exodus back to Moonbright- the only neutral area in the East- had left long before she had finished tying her last knot.  The fight with Erdene and Jasmine to allow this was epic. Violet was the only reason she was even allowed this insane detour. Alone in the woods, about to face a shadow guard- certain death.  But Violet promised it would have a good outcome, and she was never wrong.</p><p>Now she was here, snuggled into a tree with a dashing jewel thief and the daughter of a duke to keep her company yet her mind kept drifting to thoughts of a large man with amber eyes. How was she going to reach him? There was so little time, no idea how to break through, no way to… the thump of the book against her chest startled her back awake. </p><p>“The moon is bright out here, sweetheart. You want to come down and finish our conversation.”</p><p>Shock, fear, fire throughout her entire nervous system- Poppy felt all the days of her life flash before her eyes as the reality of her stupid choice hit home. He was there and she had heard nothing.</p><p>“Come on down, its nice out.”</p><p>It wasn’t like she could hide, or escape.  Being as brave as she could, she forced herself to move and slid aside a small flap of fabric in her nest to peeked an eye down at the man below. </p><p>He was large and cast in shadow, sitting at the base of the tree, head tilted up to her, filtered moonlight dotting his face through the branches, a glint of golden iris shining in the dark.<br/>“You can stay there if it makes you feel safer.” </p><p>Poppy drew back into the makeshift tent, unsure what to do. Her options were few, it wasn’t like she was in a fortress.  She had to trust Violet’s vision and she had to be brave. This was the plan, wasn’t it? No time to back down now.</p><p>Winding her wrap around her head and face, she tucked her sleep powder in her pocket and moved carefully from her shelter.   Her perch was secured in the middle of the branches, so her climb down required some navigation.  She carefully made her way, branch by branch. She could make out that the man was now standing, watching her work, his arm twitching out occasionally as her foot sometimes scrabbled for purchase. </p><p>“I think it might hurt worse if you try to catch me,” she couldn’t help a giggle at the absurdity of the situation as she sat on the final branch, ready to drop.  He was right below her now, arms stretched up to her as if she were a disobedient child or a wayward cat.  He shook his hands and she saw they were covered in gloves. </p><p>“You are making me nervous up there. I don’t need you breaking your neck before I can figure out what you want with me. Come on, I’ve got you.”</p><p>Poppy hesitated. Live or die, help or flee, trust or take off. She needed to shake off fear and take a step on the path she would commit to. Was the hope of helping this dangerous man worth her life if he chose to end her now and not accept her efforts? She could still dust him and run, maybe.   He dropped his hands to his hips as he studied the shifting emotions in her eyes.</p><p>“Neutral territory here, sweetheart. You don’t put me to sleep, I don’t put you to sleep.  I give you my word.”</p><p>She took a cleansing breath and nodded and he reached up again in time to ease her feet back onto the earth. The path now chosen, her course now set.</p><p>“So, how do we do this then?” He looked down at her, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>“I don’t really know. Can we… sit? Maybe a little more out in the moonlight? I think I need to be able to see you more clearly.” </p><p>“Sure, yeah.”  </p><p>With all the unexpected awkwardness of a high school first date, they found an open space in the trees and sat cross legged in front of each other. Crazy, strange kumbaya circle, Poppy giggled in her head. She looked at him closely in the moonlight, his outline firm, not death-fog wispy. This was a good sign. She chewed her lip behind her face wrap as her mind worked. What was his gift?</p><p>“You’re staring awful hard at me. Something ya don’t like?”</p><p>“No, not at all. It just that you are solid. That’s good.”</p><p>“Solid?” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as his curiosity drew him in. He had only her eyes to tell him anything about her and he was working overtime to find out what she was about.</p><p>“Yeah, you get fuzzy around the edges when you are about to shock the bejeezus out of me.” </p><p>He snorted and rocked back a bit, his eyes turning away in thought, staring off into the treeline.</p><p>“I don’t think that’s the same thing.” His words came out as a soft thought, not a strong idea.</p><p>“What do you mean, not the same thing?” Poppy searched his face, feeling the beginnings of a path with him.</p><p>“What I can do and what happens when our skin touches is not the same. What I can do has been with me for a long time. You and me, that’s new.”</p><p>“OK.” Poppy worked this stitch of knowledge into her mind- something about his power reacted to hers.  “Can I try something stupid?”</p><p>“What, you want to touch me?” he scoffed.</p><p>“Yes,” she nodded and leaned forward, a finger cautiously extended. The fabric of her face covering slid over an eye and she sat back again. Here she hesitated at another mental crossroad. Was showing him her real face worth removing the distraction of the cloth between them? She sighed and pushed the fabric back from her eye, not ready to commit to this exposure. She moved her hand forward again.</p><p>“I’ve seen your face, sweetheart. Not sure why you are still trying to hide it.”  His head tilted in question, arms still slack on his knees as he watched her battle with herself.</p><p>“You’ve seen my projection of myself. Its not my real face, its how I want you to see me.”</p><p>He thought on this for a moment, nodding silently to himself.</p><p>“Though I have to say, you are the first person I’ve pulled into a dream that projects their physical presence exactly as you are. You know yourself well.”</p><p>“You do that a lot, pull people into your dream world? You’re kinda scary.”</p><p>“You can literally fry the skin off a chicken, sir,” she half teased.</p><p>“Ok, ok keep whatever you need on to feel safe. Here, lets do this,” and he chuckled and stretched out his hand for her to touch. </p><p>Poppy held her breath as she slowly lowered her finger to the back of his hand, screwing her face up in anticipation of another searing jolt. </p><p>Zap.  A tiny spark of blue current arced between their skin before she made contact. A jolt- not unlike the touch of a door handle after a barefoot walk through shag carpet.  This was infinitely better than their previous encounters. Poppy let out a relieved breath.</p><p>“Better,” she sighed.  “So. Let’s talk about your dark arts."</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Dark arts?" He snorted. "I'm no Valdemort."</p><p> </p><p>"Ehhh, a little dementor... Tell me about that. How do you do it?" Poppy pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.</p><p> </p><p>"How about we stay on topic."</p><p> </p><p>Touchy, she thought. "Alright. On topic. Have you ever experienced a pull or a push that is almost on a cellular level like something is trying to just happen inside of you?"</p><p> </p><p>He searched her eyes intently and breathed in deeply, weighing the consequences of anything that he may say.</p><p> </p><p>"You are going to have to share something so we can try to find out what your gift is." She gave him a quiet moment before moving back into a cross legged position and scooping her hands at him like he was a toddler taking his first steps.</p><p> </p><p>Tora's thoughts went back to a time when he was small, when the world was large and dark and he had sensed the first stirrings of something inside of him, something deep. He was too young then to recognize the power that was growing with him, misidentified it as courage at times in his life when he found himself backed into a corner. But like most things in his experience, nothing but darkness came from it.</p><p> </p><p>The source, the thing that Vincent lusted for most in the world, was not unknown to Tora, despite his playing dumb with this feisty little scavenger. Vincent's men had scoured the extent of his territories and beyond, looking for anyone who held a piece of this mystical power. His desire to be the only one to control the single thing that had resisted the cabal of Overlords was all consuming- so yes, Tora was very familiar with the source. Yet never in a million years did he think he would possess it.</p><p> </p><p>"OK," Poppy said, watching his internal struggle, "let's try this a different way." She held her hand out to him as if to ask for a handshake. He raised a dark brow at her in question- did she really want to do this? Poppy took a fortifying breath and nodded. Instead of a shake, he threaded his fingers through hers.</p><p> </p><p>Like a splice in the celluloid of an old film, Tora and Poppy were blinked into a dreamspace. Swirls of stardust and aether floated around them, nothing material above or below- they were suspended in the miasma of Poppy's unconscious mind.</p><p> </p><p>"What happened?" It was Poppy who asked this, as startled as he was at this unexpected shift.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know, sweetheart, this is your circus."</p><p> </p><p>Poppy peered around them in amazement, watching wisps of dream stuff float by as if they were suspended in the depths of space. This was new to her.</p><p> </p><p>"Think of something pleasant, lets find out what happens," she whispered and took his other hand, now holding both and watching his face as he seemed to squint in concentration. Moments passed in an unending swirl of vapor.</p><p>"Not much pleasant in there, I guess," he was all sheepishness.</p><p> </p><p>"That's alright, let me try to change things." Poppy breathed in deeply, then out and on the exhale the depths of space shimmered and coalesced into a field pregnant with blood red poppies and brilliant yellow sunshine. The green of the grass was almost vulgar in its hue.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, this is odd but at least its familiar," she sighed in relief.</p><p> </p><p>"What's odd?"</p><p> </p><p>"The colors are too bright, too many flowers, too much sunshine. Like its almost my dreamscape but... exaggerated. I need to think about that, but for now I'd like to try something since we are here. Can you try to change something? Like make it a different color or type of flower?"</p><p> </p><p>Poppy watched him closely as he again tried to bend the image with his mind. His strong jaw tensed in frustration and she couldn't help but giggle a little as it looked like he was throwing his will from the fine architecture of his eyebrows. Hearing her giggle, he stopped and dropped her hands, rubbing his neck and frowning in embarrassment. The world around them dimmed and greyed.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait, do that again," Poppy gasped turning around to find what had changed.</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't do anything," Tora protested.</p><p> </p><p>"But you did! Its darker now! Oh, look," she bent and plucked a poppy from the field and together they stared at the wispy, inky smoke that swirled around the black center of the flower. "Well, that's not good," she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>"Its not me!"</p><p> </p><p>Poppy sank into a strong déjà vu moment as the dream around them began to whip as if in a cutting wind. Without a thought, she breathed in the dream and they found themselves back in the shadows of the forest.</p><p> </p><p>"Ouch," she cringed as she peered down on the outline of their hands, fingers intertwined, blurred with the wisps of his preternatural darkness. He blinked and dropped her hands, rubbing his own against his thighs until the edges of his form were solid once again.</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry about that," he muttered.</p><p> </p><p>"That was pretty intense," she sighed. "I'm still not sure what your gift is, but I definitely think its tied to the dark bits. I wish there was more time for us to figure it out, but I would need some help."</p><p> </p><p>"So that's it?" His voice was heavy with disappointment.</p><p> </p><p>"Its above my abilities to figure you out, I'm sorry. I wish I could do more. At least you know that you have it and maybe you can practice with it and see where it takes you."</p><p> </p><p>Poppy rose up on her knees and pulled her hands into the sleeves of her shirt for protection before putting them on his shoulders. She stared into his golden eyes with all the seriousness she could convey. "You must be careful, though. I know you are a big, tough guy but if the Overlord finds out you have this you won't be safe."</p><p> </p><p>Tora couldn't help the smile that creeped in as this little scavenger warned a shadow guard to be careful. He gently pulled her hands from his shoulders and held them, leaning into her unwavering gaze.</p><p>"Look ya little hamster. Don't worry about me. It's you that needs to be more careful. I can't believe you actually came out here, alone. Do you have any idea what someone like me could do to you? You need to be smarter, there kid."</p><p> </p><p>"You made me," she protested. "Besides you have no idea if I'm alone or not."</p><p> </p><p>His face held a smirk that could launch a thousand doubts and Poppy felt the fullness of her vulnerability. The rustling of brush around them only compounded that realization.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Life Update</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hey friends! I'm so sorry I've been remiss on updating and I thank you all for reading so far. I've been working on trying to write professionally for awhile now and am exploring ways to really make this finally happen. I want to come back to this soon and get you an update, but it will be just a little bit yet until I get a schedule down where I am being more productive with my word count.  </p>
<p>Thanks again for your awesome comments and for taking time to read.</p>
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